Every effort on this Gallery site has been made to accurately represent the vibrant colours of Sam’s images. Due to differences in computer screens and certain other variations, the images here should only to be taken as a guide. Obviously, the colour and sharpness of a finished print are far superior to what can be presented on a small screen.
West Gate Bridge
$270.00 – $2,500.00
Taken in March 2020 during the Corona Virus Pandemic I thought I’d use the opportunity to take some landmarks in the beautiful City of Melbourne in which I live. The West Gate Bridge connects the City to the Western suburbs. The main river span is 336 metres (1,102 ft) in length, and the height above the water is 58 metres (190 ft) with the Sydney Harbour Bridge clearing the water at 49 metres (161 ft). The total length of the bridge is 2,582.6 metres (8,473 ft). It is the fifth-longest in Australia, the longest being Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge at 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). The West Gate Bridge is twice as long as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Two years into construction of the bridge, at 11:50 am on 15 October 1970, the 112-metre (367-foot) span between peers 10 and 11 collapsed and fell 50 metres (164 feet) to the ground and water below. Thirty-five construction workers were killed and 18 injured, and it remains Australia’s worst industrial accident to this day. Many of those who perished were on lunch break beneath the structure in workers’ huts, which were crushed by the falling span. Others were working on and inside the span when it fell. The whole 2,000-tonne (4,400,000 lb) mass plummeted into the Yarra River mud with an explosion of gas, dust and mangled metal that shook buildings hundreds of metres away. Nearby houses were spattered with flying mud. The roar of the impact, the explosion, and the fire that followed, could be clearly heard over 20 kilometres (12 mi) away.